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Tuesday 19th November

Course specialist Il Ridoto improved his excellent record at Cheltenham with a decisive victory in the valuable Paddy Power Gold Cup on Saturday.

The horse deserved to win a big handicap and was given a great ride by Freddie Gingell who always had him handy, seized the initiative at the second last fence and drove him clear for a brilliant triumph. Il Ridoto had a lovely light racing weight and showed the benefit of a run at Chepstow last month. He loves it round Cheltenham, the ground was ideal for him and he will be back again in a month’s time for the December Gold Cup in which he was beaten a short head in 2023. I am not sure he deserved to go up 11lbs for winning by 4 1/2 lengths, albeit idling in front, surely 6/7 would have been more appropriate.
I’m delighted for Freddie who is only 18, is coming on nicely, and is going to ride a lot of ours as well as plenty for his uncle Joe Tizzard and rode his first treble on Monday at Exeter. He is very much like Harry Cobden at the same stage, keen, hungry and works hard. He still claims 3lbs and is taking his chances with both hands.
The triumph of Il Ridoto completed a stunning 24 hours for his owners including Sir Alex Ferguson and Ged Mason who landed a huge pot in Bahrain the previous evening with Spirit Dancer for the second year running and enjoyed further success with L’eau du Sud and Potters Charm at Cheltenham.
While I was also hopeful of a decent show from Ginny’s Destiny in the Paddy Power and had done as much as I could with him at home as well as giving him an away day, I was conscious that he needed his first run last season and it was the same again on Saturday.
All is not lost with Ginny’s Destiny who is a big, gross horse, travelled very well until four out and will come on plenty for the outing. He would also prefer easier conditions underfoot and may appreciate a step up to three miles at some point.
The week had begun with Kalif du Berlais and Harry Cobden taking a heavy fall four out at Carlisle just as they looked poised to take the lead in a Graduation Chase. Kalif had been foot perfect up to that point, jumping like a natural before taking off too far from the fence and paying the penalty. Thankfully both Kalif du Berlais and Harry were ok afterwards though I’ve yet to decide where the horse goes next, possibly Newbury next Friday.
Quick ground restricted our opportunities last week when Fasol was a little disappointing in finishing only fourth in a novice handicap hurdle off a mark of 108 at Cheltenham on Friday. He shapes as if he needs stepping up to two and a half miles.
With some rain in the forecast at last we will have runners most days this week building up to Ascot and Chepstow on Friday and then Haydock and Ascot on Saturday.
I will be confirming Bravemansgame for the Betfair Chase and Monmiral for the £100,000 Handicap Hurdle at Haydock while Pic D’Orhy and Blueking d’Oroux will bid to win Grade 2 races at Ascot for the second year running.
For all the latest news on my Saturday runners please be sure to check out my Betfair column which goes live early on Friday.

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Monday 11th November

After a slightly quieter start than usual to the core season it’s fair to say that our horses are flying now.

Irish Hill set the tone with a tidy victory at Plumpton on Monday before Sorceleur and Captain Teague completed an unusual double at Exeter on Friday.
Things got even better when we enjoyed a five timer at Wincanton on Saturday before the talented novice Tutti Quanti completed a rewarding week for the yard with a fluent success at Ffos Las on Sunday.
In the previous few weeks some of ours were holding their condition a bit longer than usual and just needing their first runs but they are fit and firing now.
Sorceleur jumped well on his way to an impressive success over hurdles at Exeter. As he didn’t have anything like a hard race I turned him out again at Wincanton 24 hours later with the same result.
The double at Exeter was completed by Captain Teague who was handed a walkover in a valuable staying novice Chase when his two opponents were pulled out because of the ground. Small fields are a serious issue at the moment and with little or no rain in the forecast that is likely to be the case in the coming days. It’s frustrating for everyone involved, trainers, owners, and racegoers but clearly racecourses cannot risk over watering at this time of year.
I’m not sure where I go next with Captain Teague given the dry outlook. Basically we need it to rain before making any plans with him.
Beau Balko showed the benefit of a recent run at Kempton as he landed the conditional jockeys’ chase at Wincanton in the hands of Ben Bromley who joined us this season.
I was thrilled to win the Richard Barber Memorial Mares’ Hurdle for the first time with Larchmont Lass who would have preferred softer ground and might go to Sandown in a month’s time for another mares’ handicap hurdle. Richard played a big part in my starting training at Ditcheat back in 1991 and proved to be a great friend and mentor. He was so good to me.
Rubaud’s spring-heeled jumping was again decisive as he saw off the challenge of Brentford Hope on his way to a second successive success in the Elite Hurdle. The plan is for him to go chasing now and as you can imagine his schooling has been really good. I’ll probably look for a beginner’s Chase before aiming him at the Wayward Lad at Kempton over Christmas.
Mofasa couldn’t handle the fast pace in the Badger Beer before Swingin Safari delivered our fifth triumph of the day with the help of a determined ride by Harry Cobden.
The next afternoon Harry was quickly back in the winner’s enclosure after a pleasing success in the opening novice hurdle at Ffos Las on Tutti Quanti who has a bright future.
With eight winners over Friday, Saturday and Sunday our horses could hardly be in better form.
I’ll be looking to push on this week provided the ground is safe and should have runners on all three days at Cheltenham where I will be confirming Il Ridoto and Ginny’s Destiny for the Paddy Power Gold Cup. Though I should say I will be a little cautious about Ginny’s Destiny until I have checked out the ground.
For all the latest news on my runners on all three days at Cheltenham please be sure to check out my Betfair column which goes live early the previous morning.

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Monday 4th November

Bravemansgame just came up short in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on Saturday for the second year running.

Although he ran well on Saturday he seemed flat out the whole way before finishing second to The Real Whacker who relished the ground and won on merit. There were no excuses for Bravemansgame, he certainly wasn’t tired afterwards and was right as rain on Sunday morning . Harry Cobden felt he might be keeping a bit for himself which is possible because he has had a lot of hard races and it might just be that he is looking after himself. On Saturday’s evidence another crack at the King George V1 Chase might be flying too high so we are having a re-think about future plans with nothing set in stone at this stage and will have plenty of discussions with the owner and Harry . He has an entry in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury at the end of the month and the way he jumps and gallops he could even be a horse for the Grand National now better class horses are running in it.
We started and ended the week with wins from two really nice young horses. Quebecois jumped for fun on his way to an impressive success on his debut over hurdles at Chepstow on Tuesday. He’s a lovely prospect and will probably go for the two and a half mile Winter Novice Hurdle at Sandown on the Friday of the Tingle Creek meeting.
On Saturday Kajikia made the perfect start to his career with a fine success in a competitive bumper at Ascot. An attractive type by It’s Gino, the sire of the top class four year old Sir Gino, he has not been the easiest to train as he can be quite sharp at home. Top marks to Jay Tidball who has partnered him at home every single day since he came in and rode him with kid gloves on Saturday before producing him with a strong late run that took him into the lead fifty yards from the line.
Kajikia is talented and Jay gave him a beautifully patient ride which was rewarded with his first win since joining us this season. It took Jay a long time to pull him up afterwards which is always a good sign.
The ground was quick enough at Ascot which is why I took a couple of horses out. Drying conditions at the moment are becoming quite an issue and it’s frustrating that there is no rain in the forecast this week. We are just going to have to be patient with all these lovely novice chasers we have ready to run. That’s going to cause its own problems because there is going to be a backlog with lots of other trainers in the same boat. We just need to be selective in the horses we run this week. Sans Bruit is pencilled in for the Haldon Gold Cup on Friday, while Rubaud, Mofasa and Insurrection, who all want good ground, are intended starters on Saturday at Wincanton.
It would wrong to end this weekly update without paying tribute to Daryl Jacob and Alastair Down.
Daryl has been back riding out for us for the last year and a half and I was thrilled that he reached a notable milestone with his 1,000th winner at Ayr on Saturday. Daryl has ridden a lot of winners for us, is a great ambassador for racing and has worked so hard over the summer to recover from a bad shoulder injury. Everyone in Team Ditcheat is very fond of Daryl who rode a Grand National winner for us and is rarely seen without a smile on his face.
The last word must go to Alastair Down whose death late last week was a big shock. He was a superbly talented writer and broadcaster, had a great passion for jump racing and became a valued friend through his visits to Ditcheat to write various articles about some of our star horses over the years. I had tremendous respect for Alastair, an outstanding man who had a fine sense of humour and was such a gifted advocate for our sport. We spoke for the last time at Cheltenham late last month on the day of the unveiling of the Alastair Down press room. Like so many racing folk I’ve missed his outstanding articles since he stepped down from the Racing Post a couple of years ago. He was out on his own.

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